Fault
by Kaila.Nicole
Summary: Her voice was calm now, soothing, like when his mother used to hold him to make the nightmares go away. His look shifted lower, to the ground. There was no way he could stare Diana in the eyes. He knew that it hadn’t been her fault." BMWW one-shot.


AN: As always, I do not own anything related to this fanfiction. I've wanted to write some BMWW, but all my stories are too long and I don't have enough time with school and all that jazz to type them up, so I figured I would post a little starter on here to see how you fantastic writers like it.

**:)**

The wind blew around his cape, the fringed edges barely scraping against the darkened pavement. His fists were clenched at his sides- they had been for the past several hours, but now he finally had time to realize it. The white slits that hid his steel-blue eyes narrowed at the woman in front of him, wondering what on earth she was doing here. Hadn't she left already or was his mind playing tricks on him?

"Batman, it's not your fault," She spoke, perfect words moving and gliding out of her perfect mouth. Everything had been perfect- so god damn _perfect_. And of course, the first words she would say to him after the battle would be that, for she knew the Bat from the inside out. It scared him, it exhilarated him, it frightened him. But the Batman afraid? What kind of hero was he if he couldn't overcome a simple woman?

"Why do you always say that?" His tone was stoic and tight, a reflection of the gaze that he was descending upon the goddess in front of him. Her hand was poised on the incline of her hip, one eyebrow dipped while the other rose, and her blue eyes sparkled with inquisitiveness.

"Since you always think that." Their cropped conversation was beginning to agitate even the Dark Knight, who was legendarily known for his short chats. His fists clenched tighter.

"Why are you really here, Diana? You're not supposed to-"

"Not supposed to _what_, Bruce?" She hissed and he took a half step forward, wondering if her gorgeous little noggin had been cracked in the fight.

"Diana! You know you can't use my real-" She rolled her eyes and- obviously the adult in this exchange- decided to take a few steps forward.

"Oh, shut up. Everybody has left," Her icy blue irises tightened, "No one's here." The Batman huffed, knowing that she was undoubtedly right- she was always right. He hated that. The silence fell around the two heroes as the moon shone brightly upon the torn buildings and crushed vehicles. Lex Luthor again, this time with some kind of machine called XTerminate- a laser programmed to have at least 355,000 EHVs, which was the equivalent of 13V. Unfortunately, the stupid bastard had gotten away before any of the Justice League was able to catch him. And for once, Batman did not blame himself.

"I'm blaming _you_, damn it!" His hands went up to grab a hold of her pale shoulders, ivory silk against black Kevlar, "You were the one who jumped up and attacked Luthor before the rest of the team could get a word in edgewise! _You're_ the reason that he was able to disappear!" He snarled, faulty words pouring out of his faulty mouth. Everything was faulty- so god damn _faulty_. Wonder Woman gasped, her mouth creating a perfect "O". Rearing back, she backhanded him across the cheek, which wouldn't have done much for an ordinary royal, but this particular Princess sent him flying. Into the rubble of a stroller and a car door he landed, groaning, while she stalked up to his mangled form. Bruce's eyes set upon her red boots, stained with blood and dirt from the innocent dead.

"Bruce," Her voice was calm now, soothing, like when his mother used to hold him to make the nightmares go away. His look shifted lower, to the ground. There was no way he could stare Diana in the eyes. He knew that it hadn't been her fault, it was never her fault. Some part of his conscious just wanted to blame someone else for the devastation and horror that had settled in on this no-name town in the middle of Kentucky. He had just wanted a taste of the holy fruit, the one that had always been too high for the Bat to reach. He craved the knowledge that for once in his lifetime, _it wasn't his fault_. "Bruce, you know that I don't blame you. No one does. This…" She glanced around, motioning to the lifeless things that lay around the pair, "…this is our job. Cities burn, lives are lost, but in the end, it's never our fault- never _your_ fault." Shaking his head, Batman continued to gaze at the cracked stroller underneath him. If he had squinted his eyes, he would have seen the purple bunny-rabbit, Mr. Hops, clutched in the hand of a blue-eyed little boy, although no one would identify that until the coroner discovered it on a cold, metal slab.

"For once, Diana, I can't lie to you and say I believe it," The Dark Knight's voice quivered, "I want to- and I know that I need to. But… I can't." Diana kept silent for a few moments, contemplating what she could do to help this broken spirit. At the time, he should have been one of those corroded bodies underneath the rubble, with the way he was talking. She reclused a smile, since this was not the time to be carrying out such a thing.

"Yes, you can. And you will, someday, Bruce," Diana whispered, stretching a hand out to retrieve the Dark Knight, who for once did not flinch or growl an order. He simply took the dainty palm in his own, rising up to meet Diana eye-to-eye. A crooked smile played across his features and she knew that finally, _finally_, he believed. Wrapping his arms around her, one hand on the small of her back and the other tangled in her ebony locks, he pressed his bare forehead to hers- his mask having been ripped off when his hands were finding their rightful places on the Princess's body. The said empress sighed gently, leaning against his structured chest as his crooked smile became permanent, and their eyes fell shut.

The Batman awoke to the sounds of sirens roaring and the cries of a mother holding a purple bunny-rabbit. Glancing down, he took in the sight of the slumped, disfigured form of the Princess. Cupping her bloody chin, he swiveled her face to meet his. The sight he drank in was disturbing, to say the least. Diana's black hair was matted with dark red blood, which matched the liquid seeping out of a large gash on the side of her face leading down to her neck. Her collarbone appeared to be snapped, the tip barely poking out of the flesh of her upper chest. The Dark Knight saved himself from the rest- a broken leg, staggering burn marks that littered her self from head to toe. Exactly what it would look like if you had been slammed into by 355,000 EHVs. Bruce made a little sound, one that traveled deep from his chest, up into his throat, and erupted out of his lips.

"I'm sorry," He gasped, collapsing onto his knees with the lifeless body of Wonder Woman clutched in his Kevlar-covered fingers, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." The apology was pointless and stupid, hilarious in fact, since he knew she couldn't hear him. She would never hear him. Oxygen seemed a petty need now- now as he clung to her- wanting, needing… needing to be closer to her, so he could tell her the words that had been boiling at the bottom of his thoughts. Closing his eyes gave him no salvation from the torn heroine, because it was there that his memories would trap him. Luthor was yelling something about the power, something about the power of the machine, and another comment on how _Wondy won't be able to keep up with the big fellas, so you might as well step aside, darling_. Bruce was preparing the order to tell her to calm down- to forget what Luthor said. And then she was gone, fists curled and ready to turn the bald-headed man to mush. She was always the brave one- brave and bold and _right_.

He loved that.

Before he or any of the team could shout out a warning to Diana, a blue light had flashed, sparking the night sky of Washburn, Kentucky and capturing everything in it's wake- including the Princess. The Justice League stood, frozen and helpless, as Luthor flashed an evil, perverse grin, watching Diana whimper painfully from inside the bubble of electricity. He muttered something about the female race, waved a quick goodbye to the team, and slammed his fist down on the control panel, letting loose the toxic extra-high voltages. As soon as Diana's shrieks arrived at his ear, Batman was up and dodging flying debris to shut the machine off- _just shut the damn machine off!_ Superman was barking orders at everyone, trying to desperately move the civilians away from the sight. Bruce jiggled knobs, kicked panels, crushed buttons just to stop it as the Princess shrieked, electricity crackling the area around the Batman. Finally, _finally_, the machine halted its actions and let Wonder Woman plummet to the ground below. He leapt over the control panels and front end of the device, reaching her before anyone else. Clutching the broken figurine in his arms, he passed out next to her in the rubble, his wracking sobs continuing even after he was dreaming of a happily ever after. Everything was ruined- _so god damn ruined_.

The Batman held his Princess the same now, praying to whoever could hear him. He knew he would receive no answer, though. The gods and goddesses knew it was all his fault, in the end. He wasn't perfect, he had never believed. Catching his breath, he hoisted Diana into his arms, wincing at the sight of her form and taking extra time to notice how her chest wasn't rising and falling… rising and falling.

And it was his fault.

_Let us die on let us live forever  
Don't have the power but we never say never  
Sitting in the sandpit life is a short trip  
Music's for the sad man  
Can you imagine when this race is run  
Turning up our faces into the sun  
Praising our leaders getting in tune  
Music's played by the mad man  
Forever young, I want to be forever young  
Do you really want to live forever?_

**AN: I quite enjoyed that little one-shot. Hopefully, you did the same.**

**Song was "Forever Young" by Youth Group, a cover from the original song by Alphaville. **

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**Other information: EHV stands for extra-high voltage, which is around 235,000 volts. 40V's and under is considered highly dangerous and lethal. **


End file.
